Imhotep's
many talents and vast acquired knowledge had such an effect on the
Egyptian people that he became the first individual of non-royal birth
to be deified ... setting a precedent for Antinous to attain the status
of a god.

Imhotep, or "he who cometh in peace," was born in Ankhtowe, a suburb of Memphis, Egypt. The
month and day of his birth are noted precisely as the sixteenth day of
Epiphi, third month of the Egyptian harvest (corresponding to May 31)
but the year is not definitely recorded. It
is known that Imhotep was a contemporary (living in the same time
period) of the Pharaoh, or king of Egypt, Zoser (also known as
Neterikhet) of the Third Dynasty. But estimates of the era of his reign
vary by as much as three hundred years, falling between 2980 and 2600
B.C.E.

Imhotep's father, Kanofer, a celebrated architect, was
later known to be the first of a long line of master builders who
contributed to Egyptian works through the reign of King Darius the First
(522–486 B.C.E. ). His mother, Khreduonkh, who probably came from the
province of Mendes, is known today for having been deified alongside her
son, an Egyptian custom.

Vizier under King Zoser

The
office of the vizier in politics was literally described as "supervisor
of everything in this entire land." Only the best educated citizen
could handle the range of duties of this position that worked closely
with the Pharaoh, or king of Egypt.

The
capital city was Mennefer (Memphis) called the city of the "White
Walls" for the enormous walls around the Temple of Ptah compound
(right).

As
vizier, Imhotep was chief advisor to Zoser in both religious and
practical matters, and he controlled the departments of the Judiciary
(court system), Treasury, War, Agriculture, and the General Executive.

There
are no historical records of Imhotep's acts as a political figure, but
his wisdom as a religious advisor was widely recognized after he ended a
terrible famine (a severe shortage of food) that dominated Egypt during
seven years of Zoser's reign. It is said that the king was failing in
his responsibility to please the god Khnum, and his neglect was causing
the Nile to fall short of a flood level which would support Egyptian
farms.

Imhotep,
having a vast knowledge of the proper traditions and methods of
worship, was able to counsel Zoser on pleasing Hapi, the the god of the
inundation, allowing the Nile to return to its usual flood level.

The first miracle attributed to Antinous was a bountiful Nile inundation in the year 131 AD.

Architect of the famous pyramid at Sakkara

The
Step Pyramid at Sakkara is the only of Imhotep's achievements that can
still be seen and appreciated today. Its reputation is largely based on
Imhotep's accomplishments as the pyramid's inventor and builder.

This
pyramid for King Djoser, also called "Netjerikhet" (Incarnation of the
Gods), was the first structure ever built of cut stone, and is by far
the oldest of the Seven Wonders of the World, the seven structures of
the ancient world that were astonishing accomplishments for their time.

It
took twenty years to complete—not very long, given the newness of the
idea and the state of structural science in the Bronze Age (between 3000
B.C.E. and 1100 C. E.), the period of development where metals,
particularly bronze, were used for the first time.

Imhotep wanted
the tomb to accommodate the Pharaoh's rise into the heavens. To do
this, he planned to improve upon the flat, rectangular mastabas, or
built-in benches, which were the traditional tombal structures.

The pyramid was raised on top of the base mastabas in five smaller steps, one on top of the other.

He
added a passageway on the north side issuing upward within the
structure from a sarcophagus chamber (where the stone coffin holding the
mummy is kept) seventy-five feet below ground.

The
total height of the pyramid and base is just under two hundred feet,
unimaginably large for a single structure before Imhotep's design.

The
project at Sakkara was designed in its entirety as a way for the
deceased to perform the rituals of the jubilee festival, or Hebsed. The
complex consisted of many other buildings, as well as ornamental posts
some thirty-seven feet high.

The
protection of the king and his burial gifts—about 36,000 vessels of
alabaster, dolomite, aragonite, and other precious materials—was the
other primary function of the burial site.

The entire complex was
enclosed within a stone wall about thirty-five feet high. Imhotep added
several false entrances to throw off possible tomb raiders. As a final
measure, the king's treasure was lowered through vertical shafts around
the tomb into a long corridor one hundred feet below ground. The digging
of just this corridor without machines of any kind is an amazing
accomplishment by modern standards.

When Antinous and Hadrian
visited Egypt in the year 130 AD, they stood atop the plateau at Sakkara
and marveled at the achievements of Imhotep.

It is likely that
Imhotep was the architect and master builder of many other projects
completed during a forty-year period of the Third Dynasty, though none
of them compare in size or stylistic influence to the burial site at
Sakkara.

Imhotep
was also the author of an encyclopedia of architecture that was used as
a reference tool by Egyptian builders for thousands of years.

Physician-magician, God of medicine

As
a god of medicine, Imhotep was beloved as a curer of everyday problems
who could "provide remedies for all diseases," and "give sons to the
childless."

Members
of the cult of Imhotep in the Twenty-sixth and Twenty-seventh Dynasties
(between 525 B.C.E. and 550 C. E.) would pay tribute to the God at his
temple just outside Memphis.

The
temple also contained halls devoted to the teaching of medical methods,
and to the preservation of the materia medica, which details the
entirety of Egyptian medical knowledge which may actually have
originated with Imhotep.

Imhotep's name was often grouped with
such powerful deities as Thoth, God of Wisdom, Isis, the wonder-worker,
and Ptah, a healer and the ancient God of Memphis.

Although
royal individuals were deified by the Egyptians, Imhotep is unique as
the first non-royal man to be known by his own name as a god inferior in
power only to Re (chief Sun-God). With that precedence in mind, the
Egyptians had no objections to accepting Antinous as a God.

Imhotep
was also a member of the great triad of Memphis, with Ptah, Imhotep's
father among the gods, and Sekhmet, a goddess associated with
childbirth.

It is a matter of debate today how much of Imhotep's
reputation as a curer of disease stems from medical skill and how much
comes from his command of magic and healing rituals.

More than
3,000 years before Antinous died in the Nile ... Imhotep set the
precedent for deification of mortal non-royals in Egypt.

Tuesday, May 30, 2017

ON MAY 30th the Religion of Antinous honors Saint Joan of Arc who was burned as a heretic on this day in 1431.

She
was a peasant girl who led the armies of the King of France against the
occupying forces of the English. She claimed to have been chosen by God
to drive the English from France and deliver the country to her King.

Joan
of Arc said that she conversed daily with Saints Catherine and Margaret
and St. Michael the Archangel. Her greatest victory was the liberation
of Orleans, where Charles, then Dauphin, was crowned as King of France.

She
was later captured by the English and subsequently tried by the Church
and burned as a heretic. The focus of her trial was upon the nature of
her visions, which the inquisitors condemned as Demonic, and upon her
refusal to wear women's clothing.

Joan
of Arc was in essence the most courageous of all transvestites, whose
insistence upon male dress and hair style, and occupation as a warrior
was the excuse used by the Church for her condemnation and subsequent
burning as a heretic. The Church however reversed this decision in 1909
by beatifying her, and then finally consecrating her as a saint in 1920.

Though
she is a saint of the Catholic Church and a devoted Christian, it is
for her courage as a transvestite and possibly as a sacred lesbian that
she is included as a Heroic Martyr Saint of the Religion of Antinous.

Monday, May 29, 2017

ON MAY 29th the Religion of Antinous celebrates the life of Saint James Whale (22 July 1889 — 29 May 1957), the openly gay British-born director of such films as Frankenstein, The Old Dark House, Bride of Frankenstein and The Invisible Man.

His movies were modern parables about the cruelty of "normal" people towards "monsters" in their midst.

All
of those 1930s films are recognized as classics of the genre. Whale
directed over a dozen films in other genres, including what is
considered the definitive 1936 film version of the musical Show Boat.

He
became increasingly disenchanted with his association with horror, but
many of his non-horror films have fallen into obscurity. Whale was
openly gay throughout his career, something that was very unusual in the
1920s and 1930s.

He
tended to use gay actors who were friends of his, including Colin
Clive, Ernest Thesiger, Charles Laughton and Laughton's wife Elsa
Lanchester, who played the "Bride". Thesiger has tea (below) in mad-scientist garb.

Bride of Frankenstein,
in particular, is widely interpreted as having a gay subtext and it has
been claimed that Whale's refusal to remain in the closet led to the
end of his career.

James Whale's true genius was in making movies which made the audience sympathize with the "monster" instead of the "normal" people, who invariably were portrayed as ridiculous, comic fools.

James Whale's soaring career was dashed by homophobic studio bosses who objected to having a "pansy" directing major movies. He spent the last decade of his life as an outcast in Hollywood.He "accidentally" drowned in his own swimming pool in the mid-1950s after having become a chronic depressive following a stroke.His life was brought to the screen in the award-winning movie Gods and Monsters, which is a masterful adaptation of a very wonderfully written gay novel entitled Father of Frankenstein by Christopher Bram.The
book and the movie are about his final weeks of life with flashbacks to
his childhood in poverty in northern England and his traumatic
experiences during World War I and to his heyday as the toast of
Tinseltown, and his plunge into obscurity — and his final plunge into
the watery arms of Antinous.It
is a great irony that the only out-and-proud Hollywood director of the
1930s is remembered as a man whose name is equated with monsters.Sir
Ian McKellen, who is also from conservative Northern England and is an
openly gay star of stage and screen, was nominated for a Golden Globe
and for an Academy Award for his role as James Whale in the 1998 movie Gods and Monsters.Brendan
Fraser also won critical acclaim in that film as Whale's yard boy who
identifies with the Frankenstein monster. His compelling portrayal
suggests to the audience that all of us are gods and monsters, to some
degree. But then, even Antinous was a god to pagans — yet a monster to early Christians.

And
Lynn Redgrave won a Golden Globe and got an Oscar nod for her
scene-stealing performance as James Whale's disapproving Swedish
housekeeper — a tongue-in-cheek characterization drawn from the
real-life eccentrics who performed supporting roles in Whale's
wonderfully campy old movies.

Sunday, May 28, 2017

ON May 29th, 1912, Vaslav Nijinsky made his debut as a
choreographer — with an overtly erotic staging that shocked and transformed the world of ballet.

Already acclaimed as the world's greatest dancer, Nijinsky choreographed Claude Debussy's "L'apres-midi d'un Faune" (Prelude to the Afternoon of a Fawn) for the Ballet Russes. A standing-room-only audience was crowded into the Théatre du Chatelet for the premiere.

Nijinsky himself danced the title role as the lustful faun
trying in vain to seduce a group of nymphs.

Almost immediately after the curtain went up, gasps were heard in the audience. Nobody
had ever seen ANYTHING like this on stage and most people could not
recognize it as "dance" at all. They were accustomed to pretty
ballerinas in tutus and agile men on pointed toe.

Nobody
was prepared for THIS — an Art Nouveau frieze of two-dimensional
Minoan Knossos mural characters that come alive and "walk like
Egyptians."

And nobody certainly was prepared for his ad-lib pelvic humping. This impromptu
"onanistic climax" at the end of the piece caused men to boo and ladies
to swoon.

Asked why he had rutted a scarf on stage, he answered, "It
wasn't I ... it was the faun!"

The
Titanic sank in April 1912, ending the "Gilded Age," and Nijinsky
wanked on stage in May 1912, totally transforming the Arts. The stage
was set (literally) for the Great War and total transformation of
global political, economic and cultural structures.

The world would never be the same again ....

We consecrate Vaslav Nijinsky as a Saint of Antinous and
as a living incarnation of Antinous/Pan/Dionysus. St. Vaslav Nijinsky
knew how to live Homotheosis every day of his life — which means living
daily the Divine Spirit of Being Gay — and he knew how to express this
ineffable spirit through dance as well.

Saturday, May 27, 2017

MASKED gunmen today attacked two buses and a truck carrying Coptic Christians near Antinoopolis in Egypt ... killing dozens of people and wounding dozens more … in what sadly is a tradition of religious strife dating back more than 3,000 years.

The attackers arrived in three pick-up trucks and opened fire on the vehicles carrying visitors to the Saint Samuel Monastery in the Minya province … where Antinoopolis, Hermopolis and Amarna are located.

This region is midway between the ancient Egyptian capitals of Thebes in the south and Memphis-Mennefer in the north.

This part of Egypt, near the nome sacred to Anubis, has always been a hotbed of religious fervor ever since the days when the "heretic pharaoh" Akhenaten built his capital city here, 20 kms from Antinoopolis.

Akhenaten's religion was brutally crushed by later generations and his city was razed.

Sadly, religious persecution also occurred at Antinoopolis. The modern religion of Antinous honors the first of the many Christian Martyrs of Antinoe, also known as Antinoopolis.

The first of the Egyptian martyrs with whose name and acts we are acquainted was Asclasof Antinoopolis.

The image at left is not Asclas, but is a burial painting of a person whose mummy was buried in the desert of the Fayoum in Egypt, which is the region of Antinoopolis. It is presented here as a contemporary image of what St. Asclas may have looked like.

In the early days of the religion of Antinous, Christians and Jews constituted a major portion of the population of Antinoopolis. After all, the city was the flower of Greek civilization deep in the desert of the Thebaid, and it was a haven for dispossessed and exiled thinkers and theological revolutionaries.

There was a period of time in which Antinoopolis fell under the sway of the fear and violence that had swept across the world. The Christian faith was suffering one of the bloodiest persecutions in its history. Diocletian had sought to curb the rising tide of Christianity with brutal violence. He issued decrees that all citizens should be compelled to demonstrate their piety to the Roman Gods by offering sacrifice. It was a direct challenge. Any person who refused was not only insulting the Gods of Rome, but showing disloyalty to the Emperor and to Rome herself.

Such treason was punishable by death. This was a legal way to persecute Christianity, it was not an attack on the Christian doctrine, or its practices, but was an unavoidable line that no Christian would cross.

It is interesting to note that though many of the Christians were executed by beheading or by being shot through with arrows, some were executed by being drowned in the Nile. This similarity between their death and the death of Antinous must have been very moving to the Ancient Priests of Antinous. And it is also interesting that the authorities were not sensitive to the nature of this form of execution in the Sacred City of a boy who had become a god simply by drowning in the Nile.The first was Asclas, who was arrested and tortured for his faith by order of Arrian, the governor of Antinoopolis who himself would later convert to Christianity. While Asclas was being tortured in prison by hot irons which left his flesh hanging down in strips, Arrian had reason to cross the River Nile to go to Hermopolis on government business.

Antinoopolis lies on the east bank of the Nile (depicted at left in its heyday), and Hermopolis (Sacred City of Hermes) is located diagonally across from Antinoopolis on the west bank of the Nile. But inexplicably, Arrian found he was absolutely unable to leave the water's edge.

Asclas sent word that the governor would never be able to cross the river until he acknowledged Christ in writing. Arrian wrote out the statement, and was promptly able to leave the river bank. He crossed the Nile, and the moment he was on the other side, he ordered that Asclas be thrown into the Nile with a stone tied around his neck, whereupon he drowned.This story, while odd-sounding to us today, was very clear to Egyptians. Hermopolis is the Sacred City of Hermes/Anubis, or Hermanubis.

This remarkable deity, who lives on in Christianity as St. Christopher, is responsible for conveying souls across the Celestial Nile after death. People in Antinoopolis worshipped both Antinous and Hermanubis.

The miracle of St. Asclan is meant to show that the Christian god is the equal of Hermanubis. Within a few generations, Hermanubis "morphed" into Christopher who, in this early Coptic mural at right, still has canine features. Next time you see a plastic St. Christopher statuette on a taxi dashboard, remember that it is actually Anubis without his doggy ears. He's not carrying the baby Jesus on his shoulders. He's carrying the Boy God Antinous over the celestial Nile to eternal divinity.

Against that background of intermingling spiritual beliefs, the Religion of Antinous acknowledges the suffering of St. Asclas and of all the Christian Martyrs of Antinoopolis out of our Love for Antinous in whose Sacred City they died. Though their faith was in Christ and not in Antinous, we nevertheless honor them and glorify them because they were Antinoopolitans, people of Antinous.

We ask their forgiveness for the murder and persecution of the Christian Martyrs and in their memory ask that we may be free from intolerance and never again partake in the crime of the ancient citizens of Antinoopolis.

Friday, May 26, 2017

ON MAY 26th the Religion of Antinous celebrates the life of Reg "Regina Fong" Bundy, a blessed saint of Antinous, who was born on this day in 1941 and died on April 15, 2003. A brazenly gay cabaret artiste — she disliked being called a drag queen — she was a well-known AIDS charity host who influenced a generation of post-Stonewall gays in Britain with acerbic send-ups of politics and popular culture.Regina Fong was not just a "queen", she was an "empress" — the last of the Russian Imperial Dynasty of the Romanoffs. Forget Anastasia (and Ingrid Bergman in a '50s film), Regina Fong was the REAL heir to Russian nobility. Like so many Russian aristocrats, she sought asylum in monarchical Britain after the Russian Revolution. There were indeed members of the Russian Imperial family who lived (albeit rather modestly) on the grounds of Windsor Castle during the 20th Century. Empress Regina lived (albeit rather immodestly) in London's West End.Her Imperial Highness (HIH) Regina Fong did in fact become an Iconic cult figure on the European Cabaret stage. Known to friends as Reg (pronounced "Redge"), she lost her battle to cancer April 15, 2003.But Reg, by creating Her Imperial Highness Regina Fong, a flame-red-wigged champion of gay rights, was insistently committed to being the knight in shining red armour who carried the banner of charities involved in transforming the AIDS epidemic from mortal tragedy into spiritual triumph. She reminded us all that gay cabaret, especially in London at that time, was (and continues to be) a central part of gay life.After the "Gay Liberation" in the late '60s and '70s, drag queens and cabaret artistes were pushed to the back of the room, to more mainstream, homogenized images of gay life.Regina Fong, and other Gay pioneers like Lily Savage, changed this forever and brought Gay Cabaret back to its rightful spot in the London Gay Scene. The Cabaret Tent at London Gay Pride events as the epicenter of Gay culture in good times and bad is the direct legacy of this valiant drag queen — er, ahm — cabaret artiste!Our own Knight Stephanos personally knew Empress Regina Fong and conferred with her often in the legendary Black Cap gay bar in the heart of the Camden Town District of London. And so it is fitting that KNIGHT STEPHANOS (pictured right with Her Imperial Highness) explains her Sacred Significance to us:

"Happy Birthday Regina Fong even though you and the Black Cap are now gone.

"What can one say in this current day except to pay a tribute to the one and only Reg...Regina Fong, Queen if them all….

"Regina Fong the Empress of Camp. Queen of the Black Cap.

"You Reigned supreme. Sage of the rejected, muse to all that were affected.

"Daily she held court at the corner of the front bar, vodka and tonic, laughter, dialogue quite chronic. Nightly you drew the crowds: shaking us from the melancholy of the expected life, denial waking strife.

"Cabaret Artiste beacon of hope, torch carrier of all who could but strive to such heights.

"Black cap memories to be had everyday at the end of the front bar at 11:00 am. Sitting to Michael Jeffries swapping war stories giving advice...in comes Steffens and Camp David...last of the Polari...Vada, Vada, Naff, Convo...Laughter, drinks, and scams galore.

"Always aching for the next adventure of days gone by…. If you could smell and hear the wonder of the front bar of the black cap...nicotine stains and morning shakes...characters and creatures of a world gone by...but not forgotten...bastions of an age of defiance, survival, and overwhelming urge to be fabulous.

"Happy Birthday H.I.H. Regina Fong...the likes of you could never be wrong."

Thursday, May 25, 2017

TWO PRIESTSof Antinous at the Temple of the Blessed Boy in Rome had devoted their lives to the Good God and were getting on in years.As young men they had become priests together. Their love for each other was symbolized and enhanced by their love for Antinous. They had lived out their lives together at the great Temple of Rome under the most exalted Priest Nikias.Nikias of Rome was the author of a famous inscription in Greek which addresses Antinous as NEOS HERMES the "New Hermes" who conveys the deceased through the portals of death into transcendent light. A great Antinoo-Hermeticist, Nikias had taught them much about the triumph of Antinous over death.And now, as toothless old men, they were approaching the final stage of their earthly priesthood. Both men were frail and ill. They knew death was imminent.But they were unafraid, for they were confident that they would be re-united in death through the grace and love of the Most Great and Good God whom they had served so faithfully all their lives.But how exactly would that re-union occur? The ancient texts spoke of the Barque of Millions of Years sailing across the heavens towards the Star of Antinous. But that was the Egyptian imagery, and these priests were both Romans and had only ever served in the Antinous Temple of Rome.

The Rome Temple would of course place their death masks in niches in a special area of the temple dedicated to former priests.Incense and prayers would be offered to them. Would their shades inhabit those niches?Would Antinous welcome them in Hades, despite the fact that Antinous the Boy God had come from Bithynia in Asia Minor?Would their souls be reincarnated as some Eastern mystics believed? Would they hover between heaven and Earth or perhaps be consigned to spending part of the year in the underworld and part of it as lemurs roaming the Earth?They weren't afraid. But they were exceedingly curious to find out. Confidentially, they believed amongst themselves that they would sail with Antinous aboard the Boat of Millions of Years — a perpetual journey which would never end. But they weren't sure ....They had spent years perfecting their meditation skills and, without false modesty, they could claim to be masters at the art of trance vision travel. They both knew that the Egyptian hieroglyphs had told the truth in promising that Antinous speaks through dreams and visions. They also knew how to send psychic messages to each other, and had done so on many occasions.

So they made a deal. He who was the first to die would appear to the other in a dream and reveal what the afterlife was like.As accomplished as they were, they nonetheless knew that such astral communication must be as succinct and simple as possible.So they agreed that, if the afterlife was as they had envisioned it, the deceased would appear to his friend and utter the word TALITER meaning "exactly so" as they had expected it to be.And if it was not as they had imagined, the deceased would say ALITER meaning "different" from what they had expected.The fateful day came not long afterward, and the surviving priest lit incense and recited prayers before the niche mask of his beloved friend and fellow priest.That night, almost immediately after his head touched his pillow, his deceased friend appeared to him. He was no longer old and sick and frail. He was as young and handsome as the day they had entered the temple. And he was smiling and clearly very excited and seemed to have forgotten the agreed-upon words."Taliter or aliter, which is it?" the sleeping priest asked his departed friend.The friend smiled bigger than ever and said:TOTALITER ALITER—"totally different"—and still beaming with joy, he turned and vanished into golden light.

Wednesday, May 24, 2017

TAIWAN's top court has cleared the way for the island to recognize same-sex marriage … a landmark decision for LGBT rights in Asia.

The Constitutional Court ruled that current laws, which say that marriage is between a man and a woman, violate the constitution.

The ruling means gay weddings could soon be consecrated at Taiwan's temple of the Chinese "Rabbit God" of homosexuality.

Just as Antinous is being re-discovered in the West, Hu Tianbao alias Tu Er Shen the "Rabbit God" is being rediscovered by Chinese gays.

Incredibly, both deities involve young gay men who were in love with men of high standing ... and who died tragically ... and who became gods of the spiritual essence of homosexuality.

Antinous is a true-life historical figure, of course, but his Chinese counterpart is shrouded in myth and legend ... involving rabbits.

According to Zi Bu Yu (子不語), a book written by Yuan Mei (袁枚, a Qing dynasty writer), Tu Er Shen (兔兒神 or 兔神) was a mortal man called Hu Tianbao (胡天保).

Hu Tianbao fell in love with a very handsome imperial inspector of Fujian Province. One day Hu Tianbao was caught peeping on the inspector through a toilet wall, at which point he came out to the other man. To save face, the imperial inspector had no choice but to have Hu Tianbao beaten to death.

One month after Hu Tianbao's death, he is said to have appeared to a man from his hometown in a dream, claiming that since his crime was one of love, the gods decided to right the injustice by appointing him the god and safeguarder of homosexual affections.

After his dream the man erected a shrine to Hu Tianbao, which became very popular in Fujian province, so much so that in late Qing times, the cult of Hu Tianbao was suppressed by the homophobic Qing government.

A slang term for homosexuals in late imperial China was Tuzi (兔子) (bunnies) which is why Hu Tianbao is referred to as the RABBIT GOD, although in fact he has nothing to do with rabbits and should not be confused with TU-ER-YE (兔儿爷） the famous "Rabbit in the Moon" which is the Chinese version of the "Man in the Moon".

However, the rabbit association stuck, and even today his devotees portray him with rabbit ears and make offerings of carrots to his altars. The handsome statuette in this image is lovingly clothed in a rabbit-fur cloak.

While no one knows if gays in mainland China worship him ... there is a temple in Yonghe city (永和市）in Taiwan that venerates Hu Tianbao, alias Tu Er Shen. The temple is known as the RABBIT TEMPLE (兔兒廟). The address is Taipei, Yonghe City, Yonghe Road Section 1, Alley 37, No 12.

Tuesday, May 23, 2017

ANTINOUSshows up in the most extraordinary places ... even at the supermarket magazine rack.Some years ago, Hachette published a magazine series entitled THE GODS OF ANCIENT EGYPTwhich featured special issues on scores of Egyptian deities ... nearly 100 in all.Each edition featured a glossy brochure and an epoxy resin figurine in a little plastic "display case." The magazines were widely available at booksellers and newsstands around the world.Antinous was featured in Issue 88 — possibly the most collectible issue in the whole series.The Hachette magazines have long since gone out of print, but the figurines are still found on eBay and other online marketplaces.Antinous is hard to find, but occasionally he turns up and the bidding turns fierce as ANTINOMANIACS fight to possess the little 4.5-inch (14 cm) figurine.

The one pictured here sold on eBay for nearly $50 in "NRFB" condition — "Never Removed From Box."It is "only a fake" of course. But that does not make it any less sacred or magical to anyone who loves Antinous. In ancient times, Antinous figurines, images, coins and medallions were prized by his worshipers as a sort of portable Sacred Token or Pocket Shrine.In his authoritative book about Antinous, BELOVED AND GOD, Royston Lambert points out that in ancient times many followers of the Blessed Youth felt it was necessary to have a tangible representation of Antinous with them at all times for protection and for blessings:"Some of the devotees evidently could not bear to be parted from the beneficial and reassuring presence of their Antinous and therefore had small, light-weight travelling busts or bronzes made to accompany them on their journeys."Poor people made do with more crudely made representations, such as coins and figurines and medals made of lead, clay and other base materials. The demand was so great that there was a rife trade in which we would nowadays call "copyright piracy" among artisans turning out "illicitly yet more crude and cheap medallions of this hero whose images, miracles and protection were obviously sought by countless poor folk of faith."

People of modest means who were lucky enough to get their hands on one of his clay figures or commemorative coins would carry them with them for protection, often even wearing them:"Many were pierced by holes and hung from the neck as talismans: Antinous' image offering protection against evil, sickness and death," says Lambert. Other such tiny statuettes, figurines, coins and medallions were placed in portable shrines or pouches or adorned away-from-home altars, and others were buried with the dead "to invoke the god's aid on the perilous journey into the unknown."

We look at the little Hachette Antinous figurine and see only a cheap epoxy resin plastic action figure, crudely hand-painted in some Chinese sweat shop.

But imagine how the Ancient Priests of Antinous would have gaped in wonder at this little figurine swaddled in cellophane, along with a book of shiny pages unlike any papyrus, pages adorned with inscrutable glyphs and breathtakingly realistic images.

Where we see ordinary plastic, the Ancient Priests would see a wondrous statuette fashioned in what to them would be a magical putty-like material not like anything found on Earth.

Clearly, it was fashioned by the Gods themselves — clearly, ANTINOUS THE GAY GODtruly is "immanent" (in-dwelling) in this miraculous vessel.And the Ancient Priests would, of course, be absolutely right.

Monday, May 22, 2017

ON May 22nd the world honors Harvey Milk ... his birthday (22 May 1930) is commemorated as Harvey Milk Day around the world.

Champion of the early gay rights movement, in 1977 Harvey Milk became
the first openly Gay person to be elected to the Board of Supervisors in
San Francisco.
He advocated the liberation of homosexuality for the benefit of
society in general, and jokingly claimed to be a gay recruiter. He was
instrumental in passing the Gay Civil Rights Bill in San Francisco,
which was to be his undoing.

On November 27, of 1978, Milk was murdered City Hall along with Mayor
George Moscone by former City Supervisor Danny White who had resigned
his office after the enactment of the bill. Dan White was acquitted of
murder but sentenced to only seven years on manslaughter charges.

Following his acquittal on May 21st, 1979, riots broke during a
demonstration in front of City Hall, and later, 100,000 people marched
on Washington in support of Gay Rights chanting "Harvey Milk Lives!" He became the first gay saint and martyr following the movement that began at the Stonewall.

In a tape recording made one year before his assassination, as if in prophecy, Harvey Milk said, "If a bullet should enter my brain, let that bullet destroy every closet door."
For his actions, for his life, for the changes that he effected,
and for the love that continues to burn for him in the memory of his
gay, lesbian and transgender children, we priests of Antinous
recognize and sanctify Harvey Milk as a Heroic Saint and Martyr.

Sunday, May 21, 2017

ON May
21st the Religion of Antinous honors Plato, Saint of Antinous, because
May 21st is Plato's birthday, and no worshipper of Antinous could
possibly forget HIS birthday.

The greatest of all western mystics
and philosophers was born on this day in the year 427 BC. He was
originally named Aristocles, but was called Plato by one of his teachers
because of the breadth of his shoulders and of his speech, and we might
also say because of the magnitude of his legacy of wisdom.

He
was a follower of Socrates and the majority of his works are written as
Dialogues of Socrates, wherein Plato elaborates his vision of the
Universe, the inner workings of mankind, the complexities of human
relationships, and the virtues of civilization.

All we know about
Socrates is in reality only what Plato has told us of his teacher. Out
of loyalty, Plato gave all personal credit to the wisdom of his divine
teacher.

Plato founded the Academy in Athens that was dedicated
to the love of wisdom and to the perfection of the minds and souls of
young men. The image above is a mosaic from Pompeii showing Plato and
his academy assembled under his famous olive tree.

Plato studied
Pythagoreanism in Italy and made further speculation into the
mathematical mysticism of the first philosopher thereby creating the
model upon which western monotheism is based. The Platonic system was
essentially a unification of the social inquiry of Socrates with the
cosmic ramifications of the teachings of Pythagoras.

Here is how Flamen Antinoalis Antonius Subia explain's the significance of Saint Plato:

"In
the vision of Love that Plato expounded, Venus Urania, Celestial Love,
is glorified as highest form of human affection, above the earthly
requirements of procreation. The love between two men, what is
innocently called Platonic Love, was considered by Plato to be the most
divine form of relationship.

"Hadrian,
in all ways the most Platonic of all Emperors, the veritable
manifestation of the Philosopher King as glorified by Plato in The
Republic, was demonstrating the meaning of Venus Urania, for all the
world to see, in his passion for Antinous.

"For
the beautiful light in which Plato illuminated the inner nature of
homosexual love, he is venerated as a divine Saint of the Religion of
Antinous."

Saturday, May 20, 2017

TODAY the
Sun enters the Sign of Gemini — the sign of the Twins Castor and
Pollux, Gods of Homosexuality. This is the zodiac sign which ushers in a
special sacred time in the Religion of Antinous, for this is the time
of year when the STAR OF ANTINOUS rises, after having been hidden below the horizon since the Death of Antinous at the end of October.

We
honor the Dioscuri who were born as triplets with the beautiful Helen
as their sister. The mother of the three was Leda who was seduced by
Zeus who came to her in the form of a swan. Leda gave birth to an egg
from which emerged Castor, Pollux and Helen.

The photo above shows the Prado's Ildefonso Group, twin statue of Castor and Pollux, with a marble head of Antinous "restored" to the left figure.

The
identical brothers were inseparable, and had a deep affection for one
another, for which reason they were often worshipped as gods of
homosexuality. Helen was constantly being abducted and in need of
rescue, which the brothers were usually successful in accomplishing,
however, her beauty was eventually to lead to the Trojan War.

Castor
was a skilled horseman, and Pollux was an unconquerable boxer. They
took part in the voyage of the Argonauts, and with Orpheus they calmed a
storm, for which reason they were worshipped as the protectors of
sailors.

Later in the voyage, Castor was killed. Pollux was
so overwhelmed that he begged Zeus to accept his life in exchange for
his brother's.

Out
of compassion, Zeus immortalized Castor and proclaimed that Pollux
would spend half the year in the underworld and half the year in heaven
with his brother.

Together they were placed in the sky as the sign of Gemini.

The
Divine Twins miraculously appeared in Rome to announce the victory of
the Republic over the allies of the last king by watering their horses
in the Fountain of Juturna in the Forum.

Flamen Antonius has this further insight into Castor and Pollux:"The
sacredness of the Twin Gods, with their third twin sister Helen is
found in Norse Mythology as the Alcis and as the twins Frey and Skirnir
with their third twin sister Freya.

"The
symbolism of brotherly love, and of sacrificing one's life for the
immortality of a brother is at the heart of the Religion of Antinous,
and is an example of the sacrifice that Antinous is said to have
committed for the prolongation of the life of Hadrian. The Dioscuri are
Antinous and his "rival" Aelius Caesar, and they are also seen in the
two brothers of Hadrian's court, Macedo and Statianus Caesernius, who
were servants, protectors, confidants, lovers, friends, witnesses and
first priests of Antinous.

"The Sacred Star of Antinous rises during the sign of the brothers Castor and Pollux."

Friday, May 19, 2017

ON May 19th, the Religion of Antinous honors our Saint Peter Wildeblood, a British journalist, novelist, playwright and gay-rights campaigner, who was born on this day in 1923.He
became one of the first men in Britain to declare publicly that he was
gay, when he was arrested and put on trial in a headline-making case in
1954. He was sent to prison on a conviction of "conspiring to incite acts of gross indecency and buggery." His case created such an uproar that it helped to lead to the 1960s reform of anti-gay laws in the UK.

In
the uptight post-war years of the early '50s, Wildeblood had made
something of a name for himself in the theatre and as a roving reporter
for a major newspaper, London's Daily Mail, when he happened to meet a 23-year-old RAF corporal named Eddie McNally in Piccadilly Circus.

Although
Eddie McNally was not Peter Wildeblood's type, they developed a
relationship over time. In the summer of 1952 they arranged to go on
holiday together at Edward Montagu's beach hut on the English coast.
John Reynolds, who was also an airman and a friend of Eddie McNally,
also joined them.

About
18 months later, on Saturday, January 9, 1954, Peter Wildeblood was
arrested at his home and his house was searched. He was charged with
conspiring with Edward Montagu and Michael Pitt-Rivers to incite Eddie
McNally and John Reynolds to commit indecent acts.

The
police tipped off the press and the story was headlined in all the
Sunday newspapers the next day. Eddie McNally and John Reynolds became
witnesses for the prosecution.

The
media went on a feeding frenzy and his picture was plastered all over
the front pages for weeks. One paper retouched his photos to make it
appear that he was wearing lipstick. He was vilified in public. He later
described one incident when a woman recognized him being driven past in
a vehicle.

"That night, a woman spat at me," Wildeblood wrote later. "She
was a respectable looking, middle-aged, tweedy person wearing a
sensible felt hat. She was standing on the pavement as the car went by. I
saw her suck in her cheeks, and the next moment a big blob of spit was
running down the windscreen.

"This
shocked me very much. The woman did not look eccentric or evil; in fact
she looked very much like the country gentlewomen with whom my mother
used to take coffee when she has finished her shopping on Saturday
mornings. She looked thoroughly ordinary, to me. But what did I look
like to her? Evidently, I was a monster."

What
so troubled the decent people of the day was not that homosexual
practices went on — everybody knew they always had and always would —
but that anybody would openly declare himself to be "a homosexual."

He
was in the news constantly until his conviction and sentencing to 18
months in prison. Because he was (understandably) depressed, he was
considered suicidal and was transferred to a dire hospital for the
criminally insane where the squalid conditions affected not only his
mental health but also his physical health.

He
was released after 12 months and immediately launched a personal
crusade to overturn anti-gay sex laws in Britain. He lobbied in
Parliament and wrote articles and a book entitled Against the Law which
outlined how gay people can be entrapped and harassed in their own
homes for consensual activity among adults which does not affect anyone
else.

His
three main points were: homosexuality between consenting adults in
private should not be illegal, that prison only encourages
homosexuality, and that prison hospitals were inhumane.While
writing this he bought a small drinking club in Soho which attracted a
mixture of types on the fringes of society. This provided material for
his fictional autobiography about the club, A Way Of Life.

It
was a surprise success and encouraged him to write more novels and
plays which were hits on stage in London's West End in the late 1950s.
In the '60s he became a well-known TV scriptwriter and producer. In the
'70s he was lured by Canadian television with a lucrative contract, and
emigrated to Canada, where he adopted Canadian citizenship and was
responsible for numerous hit productions over the next 16 years.

When
he retired in the 1980s, he went to live in a wooden Edwardian cottage
in Victoria on the western coast of Canada which had a stunning view
over the Juan de Fuca Straits to the Olympic Mountains above Seattle. He
suffered a series of debilitating strokes in the mid-'90s which left
him speechless and quadriplegic. He learned to communicate via a
computer using movements of his chin. He suffered a final stroke and
died November 13, 1999, at the age of 76.

In saluting Saint Peter Wildeblood, the Religion of Antinous honors
the beacon of courage and hope which he represented in an age of
darkness and despair for gay men everywhere. Everyone advised him to
remain quiet, and yet he chose to speak out. He did not choose to be
exposed but, placed at the mercy of events, he chose to become their
master.

His book was a courageous act of defiance against the kind of injustice which the straight world called justice.

"Very faintly," he wrote, "as
though at the end of a tunnel, I could see what I must do. I would make
a statement ... I would simply tell the truth about myself ... I would
be the first homosexual to tell what it felt like to be an exile in
one's own country. I might destroy myself, but perhaps I could help
others."

Wednesday, May 17, 2017

THEInternational Day Against Homophobia, Transphobia and Biphobia is observed on May 17 and aims to coordinate international events that raise awareness of LGBT rights violations and stimulate interest in LGBT rights work worldwide.

Commemorations are taking place in almost 120 countries, in all world regions.

The day is particularly strong in Europe and Latin America, where it is commemorated with public events in almost all countries.

May
17 is also marked in multiple countries in all world regions including,
32 of the 76 countries in the world where same-sex relationships are
criminalized.

Common actions include large-scale street marches, parades and festivals. In Cuba, for example, Mariela Castro has led out a huge street parade in honor of May 17 for the past several years.

In Chile in 2013, 50,000 people took to the streets to mark May 17, and the VIII Santiago Equality march.

The
main purpose of the May 17 mobilisations is to raise awareness of
violence, discrimination, and repression of LGBT communities worldwide,
which in turn provides an opportunity to take action and engage in
dialogue with the media, policymakers, public opinion, and wider civil
society.

One of the
stated goals of May 17 is to create an event that can be visible at a
global level without needing to conform to a specific type of action.

Tuesday, May 16, 2017

FOR the first time ever, Egyptologists have discovered a magical funerary garden at a tomb in Egypt which was designed to provide the deceased with herbal nourishment to ensure life throughout eternity.

The 4,000-year-old garden was discovered on a hill in what was once the ancient city of Thebes, As Laura Geggel reports for Live Science, it was found by archaeologists from the Spanish National Research Council (CSIC).

Egyptians loved gardens in their homes, and this discovery proves they created magical gardens for their tombs to give them sustenance for infinity.

The garden was located in a courtyard at the entrance of a rock-cut tomb, according to a CSIC press release.

It measures about 10 feet by six-and-a-half feet, and is divided into a neat grid of smaller beds. Two beds in the center of the grid are set higher than the others, suggesting that they once held small trees.

In one corner of the garden, the team came across a remarkable sight: a tamarisk shrub that stood upright, its roots and trunk still attached.

In a little bowl next to the shrub, they found the remains of dates and other fruit, which may have been placed there as a religious offering.

Researchers will need to analyze seeds found in the area before they can definitively say what other plants grew in the garden. But José Manuel Galán, a research professor at CSIC, ventured a few guesses.

"The plants grown there would have had a symbolic meaning and may have played a role in funerary rituals," he says, according to the press release.

"We know that palm, sycamore and Persea trees were associated with the deceased's power of resurrection. Similarly, plants such as the lettuce had connotations with fertility and therefore a return to life."

Lettuce was sacred to Min, ithyphallic god of fertility, because of its milky juice, reminiscent of semen ... also related to the god Seth (he became pregnant after eating a mixed salad).

Lettuce also figured prominently in the Egyptian story of the struggle between Seth and his nephew Horus which involved ingesting semen disguised as lettuce juice.

By studying the garden, researchers may be able to gain a better understanding of the physical environment in Egypt thousands of years ago. The garden … and the magical significance of the greenery inside it … can also "provide information about religious beliefs and practices as well as the culture and society at the time of the Twelfth Dynasty," Galán says.

"The necropolis thus becomes, as the ancient Egyptians themselves believed, the best way to understand and embrace life."

The find dates to about 2000 BC, the Period of Reunification in Egypt. It was a key turning point in ancient history. During this time, the regions of Upper and Lower Egypt were united, and Egyptian culture began to flourish. Thebes rose to prominence as the new capital of the kingdom.